How to integrate traditional wood carving into modern life?

Abstract: Wood carving is a traditional skill with a long history. After the inheritance and innovation of generations of wood carving craftsmen, it has now formed a flourishing development situation. In the present full of opportunities and challenges, how wood carving artists make their works better into the lives of the general public, this issue is worth the majority of wood carving industry practitioners and enthusiasts for in-depth thinking and practice. Nowadays, people have different pursuits for the themes, techniques and aesthetics of wood carving creation. As wood carving craftsmen, only through continuous innovation can they create works that meet the aesthetic needs of people in the new era, integrate traditional skills into modern life, and inject fresh water into the source of wood carving art with new cognition and new techniques.

 

Key words: traditional wood carving; Modern life; Inheritance and innovation
First, opportunities and challenges faced by traditional wood carving
The author attends various exhibitions every year, and finds that in the bustling crowd, young people like novel wood carving works, but they are not interested in traditional works. Speaking of, the theme of wood carving is rich and diverse, everyone likes the theme may not be the same, we can not demand the preferences of young groups, but the existence of this situation, for the craftsmen engaged in the creation of traditional wood carving themes, it is a matter of reflection.
At present, the birth of various new materials and the emergence of various novel themes have led young consumers to pursue wood carving works no longer in the past traditional themes such as Buddha figures, but shifted their focus to the modernity, aesthetic, uniqueness and diversity of the works, and they are eager to see wood carving works that can make people's eyes shine. Therefore, for the inheritance of traditional themes, wood carving craftsmen can no longer simply "draw a gourd", whether in techniques or themes, they must innovate according to the development of The Times and market demand.
Traditional wood carving creation is facing many challenges, innovation is imperative, but innovation is not easy, it is achieved in practice again and again, otherwise it is just on paper. Over the years, the author has been committed to the innovation and practice of personal wood carving art, but this is carried out on the basis of inheriting the tradition, and like many young craftsmen, they have experienced the stage of copying and carved many traditional themes. Copying is a necessary stage, quantitative change leads to qualitative change, only through a lot of practice, and then seek change.

 

Second, the new requirements for wood carving creation in today's era
(1) Focus on integrating feelings
With the continuous development of society, people's living habits and lifestyles have undergone earth-shaking changes. Artistic works should conform to the development of The Times and meet people's needs. Only works integrated into life can have vitality. In recent years, the author found that many people began to pursue a quiet and peaceful way of life, yearning for simplicity and innocence, so the author created a series of works with innocence as the theme. For example, "Brother-Sister Love" depicts the two siblings who are busy with farm work enjoying a rare leisure time together, the elder sister plays with the flowers in her hands, and the younger brother lies in the arms of the elder sister and closes his eyes to rest. People often say that company is the longest love confession, brother and sister leisurely play, such a warm picture can evoke people's childhood memories. Many people like to put this kind of works full of innocence in the home, often appreciate, you can find the original heart. This work won the silver award in the "Golden Phoenix" innovative product design Competition of the 56th National Arts and Crafts Fair Simulation Plant and Accessories Exhibition.

 

(2) Pay attention to artistic beauty
The artistic beauty of wood carving works refers more to the aesthetic sense of its shape, which is the product of the artist's creative labor. The artistic beauty of wood carving works can cultivate people's sentiment, purify people's hearts, and encourage people to be positive. Artists should observe life and feel life with the vision of discovering beauty, and create works of art with life atmosphere and life philosophy. The author has been living in Minhou street since childhood, and has been influenced by his parents since childhood, and has seen a lot of artistic works, which have both form and spirit and are lifelike, which shocked the author's young heart. Therefore, the author also likes the art of wood carving, and has hoped to become a carving artist since childhood. In the summer of 2005, the author formally followed his parents (Zhang Qishi, Lin Xiujin) to learn wood carving skills, since childhood to witness the life of the world, the author seems to be able to keenly discover the beauty of life. Every year, the harvest season, those piles of golden rice, green fields, golden fruits and vegetables, farmers uncle dark face, village uncle with the back, childlike children running rolling in the rice fields, these pictures are unforgettable, the scene of the gripping picture makes the author have the impulse to create, so day and night thinking. After a long period of layout, theme selection, and careful carving, the author's wood carving work "In the Mood for Love" came out and was affirmed by peers. The author requires himself to capture the fragments of life with aesthetic vision, reflect the truth, goodness and beauty of human nature, and pay more attention to the connotation of the work while pursuing the aesthetic feeling of the shape of the work.
Wood carving has a variety of artistic expression techniques such as realism, exaggeration, metaphor, symbol, abstraction, etc. In the face of a piece of material, we should make the best use of everything as much as possible, make full use of the natural color texture of the material, maximize the use of everything given by nature, layout ideas, and then create the knife. Previously, the author obtained a piece of lychee wood with unique shape and structure, and the raw material was relatively dark and old, and it was finally carved into a wood carving work "Hope". The work depicts a little girl holding a bamboo basket and holding her chin while a dog sniffs at the basket. The girl's eyes are full of hope. The historical background of the character is that after the reform and opening up, the radio station in the village broadcast exciting good news. The little girl busy in the field stopped, felt the warm spring breeze blowing, looked into the distance with high expectations, and strengthened her determination to change her fate and build her hometown with knowledge through reading. From the creation of "Hope", we can see that the techniques used are traditional, but the shape is novel and unique, and there is no shortage of interesting.

 

(3) Focus on story
A good film is to tell a good story, to tell a good Chinese story, innovation of expression is crucial. Woodcarving art works also need to have a story, and people often pay for the story of a work. Carefully appreciate the wood carvings of the author's father Zhang Qishi, you can find that every piece of his work seems to tell a story, and he can tell it well from the details. We can often read the feelings he wants to express or the plot of the story from the expressions of the characters in his works, the setting of the background, or the interaction of different characters. Such as its wood carving work "Folk customs of beating meat swallows", depict the scene of veteran artists talking while beating meat swallows, what they are talking about, perhaps a distant story, the body language, expression and other details of the characters in the work are story-telling, the story of time with the work is a major feature of the author's father's work, but also won the love of many young people. In addition, there are wood carvings such as "Seller", such works are rich in traditional Chinese culture, worthy of in-depth exploration by artists. Art should adapt to the needs of The Times, constantly improve its own ways of expression and presentation, and use new techniques and ideas to create, so as to produce more and more profound ideas, exquisite art, and excellent production. Like my father, I hope to invest our feelings for a better life in the creation of wood carving art, so that these wood carving figures can tell stories while having humanistic feelings, and these story-filled works can be infectious and integrated into people's lives.

 

Three, how to integrate wood carving into life
Life and art are closely related, and our life needs to be decorated with beautiful works of art. With the development of society, arts and crafts continue to develop, from the initial practical function slowly derived aesthetic function, coupled with the improvement of people's quality of life, people's pursuit of art is also constantly improving, in addition to meeting People's Daily practical function needs, the requirements for its aesthetic value are also getting higher and higher. Only when art is integrated into life can it truly serve the people and realize the most basic function of practical value. At present, artists should focus on the aesthetic needs of the general public, and truly realize the function of handicrafts to serve society. In modern society, artworks can play an increasingly important role, not only in various forms into People's Daily life, but also slowly extended to a wider range of public space. For example, the extensive use of wood carvings in community art galleries, book bars and tea rooms not only has strong practicability, but also has ornamental value. In today's era, art is no longer a luxury item at the top, nor is it just something for a few dignitaries to enjoy and play, but is closely related to the daily life of ordinary people, silently affecting the public's aesthetic appreciation. The intervention of artworks in public space has become the norm in today's society, and has become a way to promote cultural transmission, and has become a positive cultural force to inspire the masses.
How to integrate wood carving into life has become a problem that the author thinks about every day. Wood carving is a reflection of the craftsman's feelings and values, and a carrier to convey ideas and express emotions. It can be integrated into all aspects of People's Daily life, such as the design of interior space, family furnishings, furniture design and so on. In the interior decoration design, you can often see the figure of wood carving, such as desk lamps, mobile phone charging stations, flower Windows, etc., can use wood carving, antique wood carving can add a distant mood to the interior. Taking flower window as an example, because of its simple log texture, giving people a return to the beauty of nature, carvers can do a lot of articles on the window, according to the preferences of customers, carve their favorite themes, and the traditional through carving, relief, round carving skills play to the most incisive, all kinds of flowers, birds and animals in nature, landscape insects and fish can be integrated into the design of flower window. Reflect the interest of nature. The indoor screen can also be cleverly designed using wood carving, whether it is antique Chinese style, or simple and bright modern style, it can show the owner's aesthetic taste.

 

Four, the innovation of wood carving
In order to make the art of wood carving better integrate into life, wood carving craftsmen should continue to innovate according to the needs of modern people, which can be carried out from the theme, techniques, connotation and other aspects, integrating realistic techniques, exaggerated techniques, deformation techniques, symbolic techniques, etc., in the content of the old and new, integrating new theme ideas, reflecting the demands of young groups. Only in this way can wood carvings exude more lasting artistic vitality.
(1) Content
Different periods of people like the subject matter content is not the same, according to customer preferences for private customization should become the future development direction of wood carving creation, so that "art life, life art", in order to meet the diversified needs of the people. For example, the combination of wood carving and high-tech, into the image of the protagonists of some popular movies, these characters are sought after by young people, the combination of wood carving and popular elements, can greatly attract their eyes. In addition, in the face of changes in The Times and changes in consumer demand, wood carving artists should make full use of the Internet for creation and sales, take the initiative to strengthen interaction with customers, deeply explore customer needs, and lead product design upgrades, which is also a reflection of wood carving art life, is a development thinking that goes deep into life and meets The Times. And the use of "Internet +" can make wood carving art get better publicity and inheritance.
(2) Form
In addition to being a work of art, wood carving works are also widely used in all aspects of life, as mentioned above, home, decoration, etc., can be included in the scope of wood carving creation, reflecting the owner's taste of life and preferences, wood carving storage box, wardrobe, flower and other simple embellishments can make life more romantic. Simple geometric figures and abstract elements can make the home more luxurious. For example, in the design of living room furnishings, artists can cut down the complexity and simplify the use of carved wood furniture, coffee tables, lighting, etc., which is both artistic and practical. In terms of color, try to retain the natural wood color, elegant and simple, with a different charm.
With the development of society, wood carving works can also be combined with other sister arts, and a variety of artistic expression techniques and artistic materials can be integrated to create unique works. If combined with stone carving, ceramics, lacquer art, to create a variety of forms, novel content of art. With the development of society, woodcarvers have begun to break through traditional themes and consciously transform poetry, calligraphy and painting, opera, etc. into vivid woodcarving works, which greatly enrichis the connotation of woodcarving art and enhances the artistic value of woodcarving works.

 

V. Conclusion
As craftsmen of wood carving, it is our mission to inherit and carry forward the excellent tradition of predecessors. We should give full play to the advantages of traditional wood carving, seek innovation in inheritance, seek development in inheritance, and inherit in development. Creation is not static, we should divergent thinking, with a forward-looking vision to look at new skills, new materials, new needs, in the study and practice day after day, continue to study the new themes of wood carving content, new methods of expression, focus on the artistic beauty of the work, with our wisdom and skills, guide contemporary and future artistic creation towards a healthy aesthetic direction. Let arts and crafts truly integrate into people's lives.